1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a shielded connector unit for interconnecting instruments while shielding them and, more particularly, to a shielded connector unit in which shielded connectors at both ends are connected together by means of a conductive part made up of flexible electric wires and braids.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 13A and 13B are structural diagrams of an existing shielded connector unit, and FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a problem that occurs when a lower positioned instrument and an upper positioned instrument are connected together by use of the shielded connector unit.
The shielded connector unit 1 has one lower shielded connector 2 to be connected downward (in a direction of arrow A in FIG. 14) to a lower positioned first instrument M1, two upper shielded connectors 3 and 4 connected sideways (in a direction of arrow B shown in FIG. 14) to a second instrument M2 situated higher than the first instrument M1; and two lines of flexible conductive parts 10 made up of electric wires 8 which connect the lower shielded connector 2 to the upper shielded connectors 3 and 4 and braids 9 which enclose bare portions of the electric wires 8 existing between a shielding shell 5 of the lower shielded connector 2 and shielding shells 6 and 7 of the upper shielded connectors 3 and 4.
Suppose that, on the occasion of the lower shielded connector 2 of the shielded connector unit 1 being connected to the first instrument M1 and the upper shielded connectors 3 and 4 of the same being connected to the second instrument M2, an attempt is made to connect first; for instance, the lower shielded connector 2 to the lower positioned first instrument M1 and second the upper shielded connectors 3 and 4 to the upper positioned second instrument M2. In this scenario, since the conductive parts 10 that connect the lower shielded connector 2 to the upper shielded connectors 3 and 4 are flexible, the conductive parts 10 and the upper shielded connectors 3 and 4 might tilt in a direction of arrow C shown in FIG. 14. To prevent the risk, some countermeasures, such as manually holding down the conductive parts 10 and the upper shielded connectors 3 and 4 and supporting the same with a jig, must be taken during assembly work, which raises a poor workability problem.
Although a technique for covering such conductive parts with a protector has already been known (see; for instance, PTL 1), any techniques for solving a tilt problem of the conductive parts and the connectors due to their flexibility have never been found.